But Why is the Rum Gone?
by Slightly Improbable
Summary: To be fair, it was Fury's own fault for leaving Anna with the new recruits. OC Annabelle Fitzgerald from my other fic 'Tick Tick Boom'.


In all honesty, it had started off as a very normal day. Well, as normal as it could get for SHIELD. But still a completely regular and totally sane day. At least until Annabelle Fitzgerald was assigned to keep an eye on the newest recruits for a few hours. It didn't help that they wanted to go for a few rounds of Q&A either.

"No, we don't keep aliens on base."

"Mutants aren't the same as aliens, a few of them will probably punch you for that comment, and that's if you're lucky."

"Yes, this is my lab. Yes, I know about the 'creepy ass glowing stuff' leaking, that's why I've put a bucket there. I'll have you know that I am following health and safety procedures."

"I'm not using my gun in here, I might break something, or someone."

"There is no such thing as 'Casual Friday'. I just don't feel like wearing spandex today."

"I wouldn't touch those if I were you. They're heat sensitive. Don't want you loosing an arm and/or half a leg, I have enough paperwork already."

"Why am I bashing my head against the desk? Best question you've asked so far. Don't worry, I'm just hoping that I give myself a concussion so I don't have to stay here with you lot."

Anna was already falling into a rhythm with her head bashing. She probably wouldn't give herself a concussion though; she wasn't that desperate, or stupid.

It didn't matter how much she thought about it, she had no clue how half of these people were recruited. Granted, some of them were built like tanks and Anna understood how that may be useful… However, they seemed to be severely lacking in the department upstairs. A few of them, rather weedy, scrawny looking things, were the stark opposite and Anna could see them working a little bit closer to her department. She had no problem with them. They weren't the ones asking, in her opinion, stupid questions

Stopping the repetitive head-to-desk movements, Anna just left her head to loll on the edge of the table. This was starting to feel more and more like babysitting. Maybe she could just go to sleep. Saying that she was tired was an understatement of epic proportions. Yesterday she'd made the mistake of asking Phil to see his Captain America collection. They'd ended up staying awake most of the night, eating donuts and Chinese food, and, in Anna's case, being educated about who Phil claimed to be 'The Greatest Hero To Ever Exist'. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Lucky bastard, Anna seethed, he knew that I had to come into work today, while he gets the fracking day off…

"Excuse me, ma'am?"

One of the quieter voices brought Anna back from her daydream of strangling Phil with his Captain America t-shirt. She snapped her eyes up from glaring at the floor to meet those of the enquirer. It was one of the females in the group. A skinny young woman with dark hair, pale blue eyes and legs to die for was staring expectantly back at Anna.

"Yes, agent…" Anna took a quick peak at her name tag, "Peterson?"

The agent in question started to fidget slightly, screwing up her face, possibly regretting her decision to speak up. Hope this is worth it, Anna thought.

"I was, well, I was just wondering, if you don't mind me asking… Why does Director Fury have that eye patch?"

All Anna could really do was sit there in silence. That was the first time anyone had asked her that. For once, she didn't have and immediate answer. Her head was still lying on the desk and she couldn't quite bring herself to move it. She definitely had to think about that one. To be honest, Anna didn't know why The One Eyed Wonder was like that, and she wasn't sure she wanted to.

A wide, mischievous grin slowly made it's way across her face. She had her answer, and oh, this was going to be good.

* * *

"Care to explain this one, Annabelle?"

"I think it's pretty self explanatory."

Phil just gave her a deadpan look and Anna openly smirked back at him. Apparently he didn't see the funny side of what she'd done.

"You told the new recruits that Fury's ancestors were pirates."

"Yes I did."

"That wasn't a question." Phil glared at her, not pleased with the interruption. He flipped through the file in his hands and Anna was mildly shocked; information sure travelled fast in SHIELD, it was like high school all over again. She didn't expect a full report to have been completed already.

Now she was starting to feel slightly nervous. Just slightly. Anna in no way regretted what she told the recruits, it was their own faults for taking her seriously.

"You also told them that the eye patch was symbolic of the deep connection that Fury feels he has with his family history" Phil was just reading off of the list he had in his hands now. Anna felt proud; she had a list. "Oh, and there was also something about him favouring those with a similar background and carrying a good bottle of rum."

A silence passed between them until Anna noticed that Phil was waiting for her to say something in response, possibly apologise. But they both knew that she wouldn't. She'd rather have those new recruits in her lab again than apologise. It was only a harmless joke, after all. No one got hurt. Well, except for that one guy who spilt some chemicals on his hand when he saw the recruits marching up the hallways in their new uniforms.

Too be fair, some of the recruits had taken her a little too seriously. Anna expected maybe an eye patch or two, not full pirate outfits. The hats were a nice touch though, she had to admit. It had definitely worked out far better than anticipated. She even had a bottle of rum to take home with her at the end of the day. Well, she'd had a bottle until Phil had confiscated it.

"I'm not sorry." Anna stated, trying and failing to wipe the look of satisfaction off her face.

"I know you're not, I'm not asking you to apologise."

That caught her off guard. Anna has expected Phil to drag her up to Fury and beg for him to let her keep her job.

"Then what are you asking?"

Phil paused for a moment, clearly enjoying the fact that he'd knocked Anna off her high horse.

"What I'm asking you, is if you know why the rum's gone?"

That was all it took to push Anna over the edge as she doubled over in laughter. She wasn't even sure if Phil knew what he was referencing, but that just made her laugh even more.

* * *

**Hey! Thanks for reading! This was just a quick little oneshot that popped into my head today. I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Please review!**

**- Callie**


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